A wide number of drug nanocarriers have emerged to improve medical therapies, and in particular to Q2
achieve controlled delivery of drugs, genes or gene expression-modifying compounds, or vaccine
antigens to a specific target site. Of the nanocarriers, lipid-based and polymeric nanoparticles are the
most widely used. Lipid-based systems like niosomes and liposomes are non-toxic self-assembly vesicles
with an unilamellar or multilamellar structure, which can encapsulate hydrophobic/hydrophilic
therapeutic agents. Polymeric nanoparticles, usually applied as micelles, are colloidal carriers composed
of biodegradable polymers. Characteristics such as loading capacity, drug release rate, physical and
chemical stability, and vesicle size are highly dependent on experimental conditions, and material and
method choices at the time of preparation. To be able to develop effective methods for large scale
production and to meet the regulatory requirements for eventual clinical implementation of nanocarriers,
one needs to have in-depth knowledge of the principles of nanoparticle preparation. This review paper
presents an overview of different preparation methods of polymeric and novel lipid-based (niosome and
solid lipid) nanoparticles.